Researchers at MIT and in the Maldives have come up with a solution to help coastal communities threatened by climate change: submersible objects carefully placed to promote the growth of beaches and islands.
The Growing Islands project is the work of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Self-Assembly Lab and Maldivian organisation Invena, who came together to explore how design could stop coastal erosion and sea-level rise ? two problems associated with increasing global temperatures.
MIT's Self-Assembly Lab is experimenting with growing islands and coastlines in the Maldives
MIT's Self-Assembly Lab typically produces objects that build themselves, such as inflatables with multiple final forms. These structures respond differently depending on the amount of air pressure inside, thanks to the intricate geometries 3D printed in their interior. The Self-Assembly Lab has been eager to see if these computational design approaches could work on a more macro level.
MIT designs self-growing sandbars, islands and beaches
"For a long time I've thought 'isn't there a way that we could utilise some of the energy that's just naturally around us in disasters ? you know earthquakes, tornadoes, landslides, tsunamis ? and do something productive'," Self-Assembly Lab head Skylar Tibbits told Dezeen.
"Couldn't we use that to design and build rather than destroy"," he continued.
The group have sunk several structures off the Maldivian coast
From that initial impet...